It is one thing wishing luck to your rival and it is another level to show support in their loss. And Auburn University alumnus Charles Barkley has done both things in a single day. Even after an age-old rivalry with Alabama’s college football team, Chuck did not let it affect things on the basketball court. Ahead of Alabama’s Final Four game, he praised the team for making it so far and wished them luck. However, the UConn Huskies ousted the Crimson Tide from the March Madness. And Barkley’s gesture towards Alabama’s point guard has left fans in awe of him.

The Philadelphia 76ers legend went up to Mark Sears after their 86-72 defeat and offered him a hug as support over the loss. It is worth mentioning that Sears was the lead scorer from either of the two teams. But the individual efforts backed by Grant Nelson were not enough to beat overall team performance by the Huskies. All the starting five players from the Huskies scored 10+ points each.

It was probably these efforts by Sears that moved Chuck to offer him a hug. One X user, like most others in the comments, mentioned the gesture to be very classy on Charles Barkley’s part. “The best ambassador Auburn has ever had by a country mile,” stated another one.

And these comments of praise do not come for nothing. As per Fox News, the Auburn Tigers legend’s hatred towards the Alabama college football team was such that he had once stated in an interview with ESPN, “… If they (Alabama) played Afghanistan, I’d be pulling for Afghanistan”.

So a gesture like this towards a team whose other branch you hate to the core is in fact classy. Now with Alabama and NC State out, it will be interesting to witness who Chuck supports for the NCAA Championship Game.

UConn Huskies vs Purdue Boilermakers: NCAA Championship game odds

It is worth mentioning that both the teams stand at the top of their conference standings. However, the Huskies have a win streak of 12 games while the Boilermakers have a win streak of 5 games. But in terms of team statistics, the Boilermakers have a slight advantage over the Huskies. Even though the difference is not so stark.

Huskies have averaged 81.5 points and 35.3 rebounds per game, while Purdue has averaged 83.4 points and 37.7 rebounds per game. In assists, the difference is even negligible with a marginal edge to the Huskies. Similarly, while Connecticut leads in offensive rating (125.3-122.3), Purdue is ahead in defensive rating (102.9-99.0). 

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And even though Boilermakers’ star player Zach Edey has better numbers than UConn’s Tristen Newton, the Huskies have the potential to deliver as a team, as they did against Alabama. So it can safely be said that both teams are almost evenly matched and either one could emerge victorious over the other on their best day.

Read More: “Getting Paid 10M/Year”: Fans Roast Charles Barkley’s March Madness Sweet 16 Appearance on Live TV